Series: The Princess Diaries #2
Author: Meg Cabot
Published July 2nd 2015 by Macmillan Children's Books
Goodreads Synopsis
Fourteen-year-old Mia Thermopolis is still struggling to come to terms with the fact that she's a princess - and heir to the throne of Genovia! But when she announces on national TV that her mum is pregnant by her algebra teacher and plans to marry him, a right-royal fuss results! Because now Mia's totally out-of-control Grandmere is all set to plan the year's biggest society wedding, with every A-list celeb invited. But will the bride and groom even turn up? And how can Mia find out the true identity of her mysterious secret admirer?
Goodreads
Review
Wow, every time I re-read a Princess Diaries book, I just fall more and more in love with Mia. In A Royal Disaster, Mia has now come to terms with the fact that she is the sole heir to the Genovian throne, and is having daily princess lessons with her Grandmere to prepare for the upcoming visit to Genovia in December. She's also come to terms with her mother dating her algebra teacher, Mr Gianini. However, her mother being pregnant, and engaged, is a whole other thing entirely. On top of all this. Grandmere is forcing Mia to do a TV interview, during which Mia spills the beans on the whole Mr G and her mam situation. Next thing we know, there's a royal wedding being planned for Helen and Mr G, and Mia feels guilty for it all.
As with The Princess Diaries, family is really important in A Royal Disaster. Mia and Helen are as close as ever, and I love seeing Mr G become a part of their family. Grandmere is still Grandmere, but we know she's sort of doing everything because she cares about Mia, sort of. Philippe is still scared of his mother, and chasing every woman in sight, but he steps up in this book. When Helen and Mr G want to stop the wedding from becoming an absolute farce, Philippe tries his best to stop his mother going crazy - try being the optimum word. Mia's interactions with all of her family members, including her maternal grandparents who've flown in for the wedding, were lovely to see. You can always tell that family is important to Mia, and that she wants to be able to please them all, even if that bothers her at times - like with the TV interview.
Family is not the only thing happening here, though. Mia is also crushing on her best friend Lilly's brother, Michael, and can not stop thinking about him. When she starts to get letters and IMs from a mysterious JoCrox, she thinks it might be him, and that makes the crush even harder to ignore. Honestly, I couldn't remember who JoCrox was from reading the books all those years ago, and even I was wishing it was Michael. When it was revealed, I remembered just before then, and I can now start to remember some of the events from subsequent books. I can't wait to dive into Princess in the Middle right now!
The Princess Diaries series is just one of those series that you can't help but love. From reading the books more than 10 years ago til now, I fall even more in love with Mia. She is just one of those protagonists that you want to be real so much, and want to be best friends with. She is loyal and loving, and each book with her in is just wonderfully funny, and witty, and just plain cute. I'm completely overjoyed that these books have been re-released for the 15th anniversary of the series, and wish that a new generation of readers fall in love with Princess Mia!
Dates Read:
August 4, 2015
Rating
5 Stars
August 4, 2015
Rating
5 Stars
